Have you ever had such a thing when you went on a trip, and it’s impossible to convey all the enthusiasm from what you saw in words? We think that happened. How can one explain in words to friends how exciting it is to look at the bottom of the Great Canyon from the Heavenly Path or try to cover the whole of Dubai from the site to the Burj Khalifa? For such cases, 360-degree photographs, or 3D panoramas, were developed.

Spherical panorama (virtual panorama, 3D panorama, photosphere) – one of the types of panoramic photography. Looking through the 3d panorama, the person, being in the center of the sphere, has the ability to “look” up, under his feet and turn around himself. Thus, in a short period of time, there is a maximum saturation of information, which is understandable and easily perceived by the viewer.

Note: You can watch 3D panoramas in several ways: in any browser, controlling the mouse or keyboard, via a smartphone, but for this you need virtual reality glasses or third-party applications, without which a photosphere looks incorrect and even ridiculous. Unfortunately, there are not many such applications, but we found an excellent option for viewing such photos, which in combination with VR-glasses gives the effect of almost maximum presence. Such an application was the development of the company Exelor Tech called VRSphere.

This application, developed for iOS, impressed us with a number of its advantages. First of all, this is, of course, its price – for $ 1.99 the user receives a full-screen demonstration of 360-degree panoramas, which can be viewed both on the gadget’s screen and through VR-glasses. The full version allows to download and view up to 100 panoramic spherical photos without ads. Of course, there is also a free version that allows to get acquainted with the program and evaluate its second advantage – a wide range of viewing controls. It may be control via Apple Watch, voice control and control via a “magic pointer”, the aiming on which automatically switches the photo to the next or previous one. The third advantage is the opportunity to share any details of the photosphere with friends, “pointing” at them directly on the photo. Another plus of VRSphere is the ability to share a virtual panorama with friends or family (up to 7 people) and view a 3D panorama simultaneously with others.

Throughout the world, 3D panoramas and virtual tours are considered an indispensable means of promoting goods and services. Many successful companies allocate funds in their advertising budget to this innovative technology. So, the photospheres are actively used by interior designers to show the results of their work or to discuss the future design of the room, 3D guidebooks allow to virtually visit any establishment, see its interior, make sure that it is comfortable, cozy, presentable, they help tourists and guests navigate the city, show the most interesting routes and sights (streets, parks, squares, buildings and monuments), with the help of spherical 3D panoramas, the buyer can view the interior of the selected car before visiting the salon.